On December 21, 2021, Gov. Hochul signed Bill A04651 into law, which requires third-party delivery services to have a valid agreement with merchants before advertising, promoting, or selling any of the merchant's products on their platforms. 

So going forward, third-party delivery services such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and GrubHub must have valid agreements with local restaurants before promoting or selling any of the restaurants' food/products. There is no question, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, local restaurants have utilized third-party delivery service platforms to further promote their businesses, to generate new customers, and to increase overall exposure to local communities. At the same time, the use of third-party food delivery services has exploded and these third-party food delivery services have gotten away with charging local restaurants excessive fees and commissions on the delivery of a restaurant's food/products, which have diminished a restaurant's overall profit. 

This new legislation also forbids any indemnity clauses in these agreements. It is common for many third-party food delivery services to attempt to limit their own liability for any issues related to the food itself or for any accidents that occur during the delivery process. This is why third-party service agreements often contain an indemnity clause, which is a "risk-shifting" provision, in which a restaurant agrees to defend, reimburse, and hold harmless a third-party food delivery service for any and all claims arising out of the third-party food delivery services' scope of work.  

This new legislation ensures that restaurants in New York State will know precisely what fees/commissions a third-party food delivery service will charge on deliveries and also protects restaurants against claims arising from the delivery of their food/products. 

Violations of this new legislation can result in a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation. Additionally, a restaurant has the right to file a lawsuit for damages, which includes the civil penalty of $1,000 per violation, injunctive relief, and may even be awarded reasonable court costs and attorney's fees at the court's discretion. 

Will we see fewer restaurants advertised on third-party delivery services apps going forward in light of this new legislation? 

Will we see a snowball effect of increased lawsuits against third-party delivery services? 

Time will tell...

As you may recall, a proposed bill (S1579A) was submitted to Gov. Hochul earlier this month seeking to amend the RPAPL and require lenders, assignees, or mortgage loan servicers to maintain and upkeep vacant residential property at the beginning of a foreclosure action, rather than towards the end of it. 

On December 21, 2021, Gov. Hochul signed the bill into law and it became effective immediately. 

Lenders are likely not thrilled about this new legislation considering they now face the burdensome task of maintaining and upkeeping vacated residential homes throughout the entire foreclosure process, which as we all know, could last months or even years. 

Lenders could also face the risk of being accused of trespass for gaining access to what is a supposed to be a vacant residential home that is being foreclosed upon. It is certainly not uncommon for homeowners to continue residing at a foreclosed home especially at the commencement of a foreclosure action.  

What kind of ripple effect will this new legislation have on residential foreclosure actions going forward?

Stay tuned over the coming months to find out....

Write down December 21, 2021 as the date that real estate brokerage was changed forever in NYS. That is when S2131A was signed into law and became effective. 

If you are a real estate salesperson or an associate real estate broker at a brokerage firm that is unaware of this new law, it's time to change brokers. 

This law requires your broker to institute standardized operating procedures for the prerequisites prospective homebuyers shall meet and to submit such procedures to the Department of State. 

If procedures are changed, whatsoever, the new procedures shall be submitted within 30 days of the change. 

Plus, the law requires the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations and the combined law / regulations shall, at a minimum, require brokerages to have a policy as to: 

1. Whether prospective clients shall show identification; 
2. Whether an exclusive broker agreement is required; &
3. Whether pre-approval for a mortgage loan is required. 

If you are a salesperson who is operating under a brokerage's license that fails to satisfy this new submission of procedures requirements, or if you fail to follow the procedures, you are subject to a license law violation and penalty, including revocation or suspension of your license. 

This is very serious and will also work as important evidence in any and every fair housing / discrimination litigation moving forward. 

Starting on February 19, 2022, the maximum fine for real estate license law violations has been doubled from $1,000 to $2,000 by S945B. Brokers beware. 

Further, 50% of these fines, for violating Article 12-A and 19 NYCRR 175, will be used to establish an Anti-Discrimination in Housing Fund (ADHF). 

The ADHF shall be controlled by the NYS Attorney General and may be used for:

• Fair housing testing;
• Grants to duly applying county, city, town or village human rights commissions;
• Grants to duly applying county, city, town or village agencies specializing in the prevention of unlawful discrimination in housing; &
• Grants to duly applying not-for-profit agencies specializing in the prevention of unlawful discrimination in housing. 

Starting on June 19, 2022, real estate licensees in NYS will be required to complete "at least two hours of instruction pertaining to implicit bias awareness and understanding" as part of their 22.5 hours of continuing education to renew their license because of a new law, S538B. 

According to the law, "'implicit bias' shall mean the attitudes or stereotypes that affect an individual's understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner."

Lieb School is ready and already offers an implicit bias course that counts towards the fair housing and discrimination requirements. To comply with the new law, we are re-submitting this course to count towards the required implicit bias training as well. 

Starting on April 20, 2022, real estate licensees in NYS will be required to complete "at least two hours of cultural competency training" as part of their 22.5 hours of continuing education to renew their license because of a new law, S979A. 

Lieb School is on top of making sure that its students lead the industry, having already drafted curriculum to satisfy this requirement. Our course will educate licensees on the following subtopics:

1. Right to Social Benefits of Integration
2. Misunderstanding in Cultural Competency
3. 4 Elements in Developing Cultural Competency
4. Friction Between Cultural Sensitivity & Discrimination Law
5. Cultural Norms, Preferences, & Challenges
6. Cultural Competence Techniques

As of 12/21/2021, all state agencies administering housing programs or enforcing housing laws and all localities administering housing programs and receiving funds from the state for such activities are now required to affirmatively further fair housing.

What this means is that the state and local governments will actively seek to create more diverse, inclusive communities. They will do this, according to the new law (S1353A), by:

1. Identifying and overcoming patterns of residential segregation & housing discrimination;
2. Eradicating racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty;
3. Reducing disparities in access to opportunities;
4. Eliminating disproportionate housing needs;
5. Providing the public reasonable & regular opportunities to comment on fair housing issues & participate in the development & advancement of affirmative fair housing policy; &
6. Encouraging & maintaining compliance with Article 15 of the Executive law & any other applicable anti-discrimination or fair housing law. 

If you are an associate real estate broker serving as a real estate brokerage office manager you are now responsible for your associated real estate salespersons' license law violations. Be warned. 

The statute, S2157A, amends Real Property Law section 440(6) and also requires an associate real estate broker to have been active in the real estate industry for two of the four years preceding appointment as an office manager. 

All associate real estate brokers, who manage offices, should quickly become familiar with their company's policies and procedures to the extent of checking whether they comply with Article 12-A and 19 NYCRR 175 for if they don't, you, the manager are now liable. Also, read 19 NYCRR 175.21, which defines your supervisory responsibility to include "regular, frequent and consistent personal guidance, instruction, oversight and superintendence" together with record keeping.

Best of luck. 

On 12/17/2021, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the OSHA vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees. 

Per OSHA, citations for non-compliance will start on January 10, 2022. These citations are going to be huge with penalties for non-compliance set at:

Additional protections in Housing Court are being enforced in order to aid self-represented parties. When opposing parties come to an agreement during a proceeding, they sign a Stipulation of Settlement ("Stipulation"), which is a binding agreement, so it is the judge's responsibility to ensure that the parties understand the Stipulation. 

Bill A3320A relates to stipulations in summary proceedings to recover possession of real property. Moving forward, a stipulation will not be approved by the court unless the court first verifies the following:

• All parties have been accurately and appropriately named;
• The authority of the signatory if a named party is not present;
• The unrepresented party understands he may try the case if he does not agree with the stipulation;
• An opposing party's attorney did not inappropriately give advice to the unrepresented party;
• Whether or not the unrepresented party agrees or contests any allegations in the petition or predicate notices;
• The unrepresented party understands the claims and defenses available to him and what his options may be in light of the claims and defenses, and, that the claims and defenses are adequately addressed in the stipulation;
• The unrepresented party agrees to the terms in the stipulation;
• The unrepresented party understands the consequences of either party's non-compliance with the stipulation; and
• An appropriate rent breakdown is included, if applicable.